Ice hockey: North Wilts Vikings, Wiltshire’s only junior Inline Puck Hockey club, fielded its 16 and Under team on Saturday 30 January in the latest round of matches of the GB Hockey Inline Southern League held at Lord Roberts Centre, Bisley.

The team, consisting primarily of players from the Chippenham and Swindon area, started the day in 5th position in the table but due to earlier results had already dropped to 6th prior to taking to the rink for their first match.

Vikings were missing five players for the clash with Guildford Storm, but were heartened by a goal by James Townsend inside 30 seconds and went further ahead when debutant Matt Baxter finished off a good passing move by Mike Barton and Matt Powell.

Storm responded quickly with a solo run from the dangerous Temple, and the same player levelled the match a couple of minutes later when Vikings were reduced in numbers due to Barton serving a minor penalty for high sticks.

Storm dominated a scrappy few minutes, but were thwarted by excellent netminding by Duncan Morton.

Vikings defenders captain Dayne Leonard and Rob Webster started to get the upper hand over the Storm forwards and Barton and Townsend gradually took control of the midfield area as Vikings physical advantage began to tell.

With the first period drawing to a close, Baxter found space in front of the Storm net to score his second goal and edge Vikings 3-2 ahead at half-time.

Mike Hale replaced Duncan Morton as netminder for the second period and Vikings continued to press forward without reward until Powell combined with Barton to score the first of two goals in a minute, and with Storm reeling Vikings pulled further ahead on the power play with Powell completing his hat-trick.

The hardworking Barton finally got himself on the scoresheet with just under 5 minutes remaining after exchanging first-time passes with Webster and Leonard.

Storm scored a consolation goal in the final 20 seconds to scupper Hale’s clean sheet, but Vikings ran out comfortable 7-3 victors.

Despite being further depleted by losing Baxter to prior commitments and Townsend having to play a limited role due to illness, Vikings made the most of their experience in their second match against league newcomers Cambridge Thunder, scoring 5 times in the first five minutes through Webster (2), Leonard (2) and Barton.

The goals continued to flow and the interval saw Vikings 9-0 ahead with netminder Hale having seen little of the puck.

Thunder shocked Vikings with a strike in the first minute of the second period, but Vikings soon regained composure and continued to find the net regularly to tally 22 goals with Barton leading the scoring with 9, Webster and Leonard scoring 4 each with 2 goals for Powell and a notable hat-trick for netminder Morton playing as an outfield player.

The game was played in good spirit with no penalties against either side and Vikings players acknowledging several fine saves from the beleaguered Cambridge netminder.

With two victories, North Wilts leapfrogged Team Fury and Guildford Storm into 4th place in the division, but don’t now return to league action until March.

The Wiltshire club are hoping to enter additional teams in the 18 and Under and Senior divisions of the GB Hockey Inline Southern League next season, any interested players should contact Karl Leonard on 01249 661479 for further details.